This report by the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the International Social Science Council (ISSC) is the first such an assessment of the 169 targets beneath the 17 draft goals carried out by the scientific community. It finds that quite a number still suffer from lack of integration, some repetition and rely too much on vague language rather than measurable targets. Therefore the authors argue that an ‘end-goal’ to provide a big picture vision for the SDGs is needed.